It’s not easy to drive dramatic inbound-lead growth. In fact, many entrepreneurs seem to think it’s an impossible task. But what if I told you it was a lot simpler than you think?

Seeing a huge increase in inbound-lead growth -- essentially attracting new customers -- is possible, regardless of your industry. It’s just a matter of making the investment of time, hard work and dedication.

If you’re willing to put in the effort, you can increase your company’s revenue through inbound marketing. The 10 steps outlined here will help propel your efforts, but the level of success you achieve is entirely up to you. Are you ready?

1. Set strategic goals.

Everything in business starts with your overall goals. What do you want to accomplish from this dramatic inbound-lead growth?

Increased membership signups

Higher overall revenue

Greater amount of social advocacy

These are just a few ways growth can yield results for your business. Take time to clearly outline exactly what you want, and how you’ll measure whether your program has been successful.

2. Develop accurate personas.

You can’t accomplish anything if you don’t know the people that will make your goal a reality. Buyer personas give you insight into the mind of your customer. They reveal the pains, challenges and obstacles that keep them up at night.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of truly knowing and understanding your customer.

3. Understand your customer’s journey.

A strong conversion funnel requires an understanding of the buying process. Map out the most popular journeys customers take to purchase your product. When you see them visually laid out, you’ll be able to identify gaps in your system.

If you don’t already have these maps, you can create them by answering a few questions:

If you’re just starting out, make maps for each different type of customer you defined during the persona-building process.

4. Hire experienced, talented staff members.

An entrepreneur is only as good as his or her supporting team. If you want to achieve dramatic inbound-lead growth, you’re going to need the skills, expertise and assistance of other trained professionals. At minimum, you’ll need people skilled in:

8. Develop a three-month inbound strategy.

Once all these steps are in place, it’s time to create a strong three-month strategy. I like to start people with three months because it’s enough time to start seeing dramatic growth, while not feeling too overwhelming to execute the strategy.

10. Stick to your inbound-marketing strategy.

The biggest downfall that hinders dramatic inbound-lead growth? Not sticking to your planned strategy. I know what it feels like to get discouraged by a lack of results. But it’s important to remember that inbound marketing is a long-term strategy. If you let a bit of discouragement keep you from continuing with the strategy you’ve set for yourself, you’ll never see results.

So stick with it! Success lies just beyond the point where you want to give up.

What is the number-one inbound marketing goal you’d like to achieve by the end of this year? Share how you’ll achieve it with these steps by leaving a comment below.